Missing Moment TCOT Shoplifter's Shoe
by N Burnham
Summary: Originally written for the ladies at the Perry-Della Yahoo Group, I hope you all enjoy my thoughts on what might have happened at the end of this episode. Sorry for any earlier glitches on the posting but I think we are all, "go for launch" now. Thank you for reading my stories :)


This television episode is based upon a 1938 Perry Mason Novel written by Erle Stanley Gardner. The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe aired January 3, 1963. A special thanks to Brad Paisley for inspiration.

The episode summary is :Perry Mason is shopping in a local department store when a distraught elderly woman named Sarah Breel bumps into him and drops her packages to the ground. Subsequently, she is accused by the floor manager of shoplifting and, thanks to Perry's intervention, is cleared of the shoplifting charge. Not long afterward, Sarah's niece, Virginia, comes to Perry's office and tells him that she believes her aunt is involved in a jewel robbery or, at the very least, is covering for her no-good brother George. When George's partner, Austin Cullins, is murdered, Sarah is found near the scene of the crime with the murder weapon and a cache of jewels in her purse. Naturally, Perry agrees to handle Sarah's defense-a job that becomes doubly difficult when dear brother George turns up murdered as well. In the end, a jealous husband is the culprit. In the last scene, Perry, Paul, Della, Sarah Breel, and Virginia are discussing the case in Perry's office. Paul is standing. Della is sitting on Perry's desk with her legs crossed. Perry is sitting on the desk next to Della. Sarah Breel is seated in a wheelchair due to injuries she received from being hit by a car during the episode and Virginia is standing next to her. Perry gets off the desk, exclaims, "The party's on us. Let's go, Aunt Sara," commandeers her wheelchair, and everyone heads out the door Perry and Aunt Sara first, then Della and Paul, and last Virginia as the camera fades out and the Perry Mason theme song signifies the ending of another episode. My story begins shortly afterward.

The mood was jovial as Perry Mason pushed his client's wheelchair towards the outer office doors. Over his shoulder, he called out, "Don't forget to grab your purse and lock up, Della.

"Got it, Chief," she called after him. Perry chuckled to himself. He wished he could see the look on her face when she opened her desk.

Della quickly moved back through Perry's office, making sure to turn out all the lights. She turned the lock to the back door, checked the lanai doors, and then turned the locks on the doors leading to the law library. Next, she pushed in the locks on filing cabinets she'd been working out of that day. Finally, she stopped at her desk to retrieve her purse and her set of office keys so that she could secure the master locks on Perry's private office door and the front door of the law office.

Upon hearing Perry's request, Paul had continued ahead of Della, rather than waiting, and caught up with Virginia. They talked easily with one another as they followed Perry and Aunt Sarah towards the elevators. No one seemed to notice that Della was not with them yet until Perry pushed Aunt Sara onto the elevator, turned around to ask Della a question, and found she wasn't there.

"Where's Della?" Perry asked in a confused tone. "She hasn't caught up with us yet?"

"Gosh, I guess not, Perry." Paul looked around and back down the hallway, but there was no Della.

"Should we go back and check to make sure everything is okay Mr. Mason?" asked Virginia never taking her eyes off Paul. Paul's eyes met hers and he smiled warmly. Virginia blushed and looked away.

"Hmmm," Perry replied as he absorbed the interesting exchange of looks between the two. Then, a smile slowly spread across his face and he let out a quiet laugh. `She found it and, instead of taking it with her " his thoughts were interrupted.

"Well Perry, let's go back and find her," Paul stated as he turned with Virginia to head down the hallway.

"Oh no, no Paul. Let me go see what the hang up is and we'll meet you downstairs, okay?"

"Not a problem," Paul shrugged as he took Virginia by the elbow and escorted her onto the elevator. She leaned over and kissed Aunt Sara on top of the head. Paul reached over to hit the down button. Perry gave Paul a wink as the elevator doors closed. Paul laughed and shook his head. `We'll see how long it takes them to make it downstairs,' he thought with great amusement.

Perry turned and quietly headed back down the hallway towards his law office. From afar, he noticed the office door was partially open. He slowed his pace, looked around the hall for a moment, and then proceeded through the doors. Gertie's office was dark, but a dim light emanated from under Della's door. He slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. Della was leaning against the front of her desk. In her hands, she held a white card with a splash of embellished golden flowers across it. Next to her, on the desk, was an opened black velvet box. She was so entranced in reading the card, she did not hear Perry at the door. He leaned against the frame and watched her... delighting in every aspect of her beautiful face. Then, his eyes traveled slowly down her body... the tight black top and black skirt... the triple chained gold necklace which hung at just the right length to rest against her breasts... the black, open-toed high heels and silky stockings. He had trouble concentrating all day because of this outfit. Once or twice, she caught his glances lingering on her a little too long, but she said nothing. She simply smiled and went about her business. She knew she was driving him crazy. Sometimes, he thought she rather enjoyed it. Truth be known, he did too. Moments earlier, it was all he could do to concentrate on his conversation with Virginia and Aunt Sara... Della sitting on his desk with those legs crossed and those heels... oh the mixture of fantasies and memories those heels evoked from deep within him.

Perry cleared his throat and slowly walked towards her. "Did you know ..." he said softly. Della startled at the sound of his voice, then smiled, and closed the card. "I remember trying not to stare the night I first saw you... you had me mesmerized. You wore a fitted two-piece black dress similar to this one." He stopped half way across the room and gestured at her clothing. " Only your necklace was silver not gold and it had a circular pendant with a filigree pattern. Your hair was swept up exposing these little dangly earrings that matched the pendant." He swirled his index finger at his ear as he spoke then moved a little closer to her, clasped his hands behind his back, and continued. "Three weeks later, after your job interview, it took 35 minutes to walk you out and say good-bye. I'd never done that with any interviewee before. Did you know that?"

Perry's eyes glowed as he looked at her.

"You remember all of that?" she asked him. She felt a warm flood of color creeping up her neck and spreading across her cheeks.

"I'll never forget it, Della." He leaned into her, hands still clasped behind his back, and brushed a soft kiss across her lips. Not satisfied, he cupped either side of her face with his hands and kissed her hungrily. She responded with a passion that matched his own and it was several minutes before they broke apart.

"I had the same problem that night," she said as she opened her eyes. "You were quite mesmerizing yourself in that black tailored suit, pale blue shirt, and matching blue and black pin striped tie."

"You remember all of that?" he spoke softly.

"I'll never forget it," she said with a playful smile, "And my interview? I have no idea how I answered any of the questions you asked I was so nervous, but then you gave me this look and " She looked down at the card in her hands, then placed it in her purse. "I knew at that moment ." Her voice trailed off and her eyes glistened with emotion.

"I did too," Perry said more softly this time as he cupped her face again and wiped away the lone tear which escaped her eyes. He picked up the velvet box sitting next to her and took out a triple stranded gold bracelet a perfect match to the necklace set Della wore around her neck. He undid the clasp, picked up Della's right hand, and placed the bracelet around her wrist. Slowly, he massaged her forearm watching the gleam of the gold as the faint light in the office reflected off it. His massage then slowed and he brought her wrist to his lips, placing a gentle kiss upon it. He stood there for a moment just holding her hand. Della took her free hand and stroked the side of Perry's face. When their eyes met, she spoke,"By the way, that was a nice little trick hiding the bracelet and card under the keys in my desk drawer, and then reminding me to lock up." She placed her hands on the lapels of Perry's jacket. Perry rubbed her arms up and down and then ran his fingers lightly through her hair.

"But, Perry, you shouldn't have... really... what's the occasion? First, a late dinner last night. That dinner led to dessert at home where we spent all night " She smiled demurely as he raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner, "... definitely not sleeping even though you had to meet Paul early this morning before court. When I awoke, I found this necklace set lying next to me and a single red rose. Have I forgotten something?"

"No you haven't missed a thing," he said, bringing his fingers back to trace the three-chained golden necklace set around her neck, "It's just like the card says. I'm so happy you are no more than a heartbeat away from me each and every day. We have a long, wonderful life ahead of us, Della...that's the special occasion. See this case started out with my looking for the perfect gift for you and I thought it should end with one too. Do you like it?"

"Oh Perry, you know I do, but, I thought this case started with a shoplifting accusation. Do you mean to tell me you were shopping for me and just happened to be standing nearby when Aunt Sara was accused of shoplifting?"

Perry nodded his head at her and smiled. "I see," she said, "My goodness you have a knack for landing in some of the darndest situations."

Perry continued to trace his fingers over the gold chains resting upon her chest. "We've been so busy lately. We postponed our Christmas plans last month because of cases that were on appeal. I went to the department store to buy you the necklace to let you know that, no matter what happens or how busy we get, you are never far from my thoughts. I could hardly believe it when that little old lady first bumped into me and was then accused of shoplifting. I'd planned on giving you the necklace at lunch later that day, but I couldn't just stand by and see her rights trampled upon and her reputation dragged through the mud and, before I knew it, here we were with another case."

"That seems to happen to us a lot, doesn't it?" She smiled up at him and placed a hand upon his cheek. "No... no you couldn't leave that sweet little lady alone to be humiliated," Della said lovingly, "because that's who you are and I love you, Perry Mason."

The honesty of her declaration caused him to drop his fingers and shift his gaze from her necklace to her eyes. "I love you too, Della ...more than you can possibly imagine." Perry kissed Della once more. "Well, we'd better get going. Paul's waiting downstairs for us with Aunt Sara and Virginia. We have some celebrating to do."

Della stood up, dropped her gaze and gently grabbed Perry by the belt buckle and waistband of his slacks. As she pulled him closer to her, she said seductively, "We could celebrate here and join the others a little later." The proposition and smooth quality of her voice as she made it stirred a deep longing within him. Suddenly, a vision of him picking her up and taking advantage of the empty desk behind them gleamed through his mind.

"As tempting as that is," he said, pulling away from her, "everyone is waiting downstairs and they're probably wondering where we are right now."

Della sat on top of her desk, crossed her legs, and looked Perry directly in the eyes. "Paul's a big boy, Perry. He can put two and two together. Call the doorman downstairs. Have him tell Paul we've been delayed and we'll meet him and the others at the restaurant in a little while."

Perry looked at Della as if he'd never seen her before. Unable to help himself, he reached over, ran his hands up and down her legs, and paid particular attention to the feel of the black heels in his hands. Della relished the look of shock which had initially registered on his face at hearing her bold words. Then, she fought the urge to throw herself into his arms as he caressed her.

"What if Paul's already on his way up to find us?" Perry asked as he rubbed his thumbs across the top of her foot.

Della slid her foot from his grasp, gently grabbed his jacket, and pulled him closely to her. Then, she directed his hands up her skirt and allowed him to feel as she unfastened her stockings from her garter belt. With their lips inches apart, she whispered, "Then I suggest you take your own advice, Counselor, and lock up."

Perry's eyes widened. He straightened up and fished his keys out of his pocket. Della reached down, slipped off her heels, and tossed them seductively across the floor. Then, she slowly stood up, bent over with her back to Perry, and pulled off her stockings leaving them on the floor one at a time as she walked towards his private office. Before disappearing through the door, she shimmied out of her skirt, turned, and gave him a sultry smile. A large grin spread across Perry's face as he loosened his tie, picked up the phone and called downstairs to let Paul know something came up and they would join him and the others later. Then, he moved quickly to lock the front door of the law office. As he passed back through Della's office and flipped out the lights, he caught sight of her naked silhouette waiting for him at his office door.

`What a perfect ending to another case,' he thought as he moved to her, wrapped his arms around her and carried her back to that empty desk he'd fantasized about only moments earlier. 


End file.
